Fishing rod



J. C. CALDWELL.

FISHING ROD.

APPLICATION FILED IuNE I9, |920.

1,41 5,3 10. Patented May 9, 1922.

m 'III'..IAIDUIIA VIA I v r 1 r I v r v v WIM/5835s ATOR/VEYS ,i STATES FTNT @TM JOHN CLAY CALDWELL, 0F MIAMI, FLORIDA. i

FISHING ROD.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented May 9, 1922..

Application filed .Tune 19, 1920. Serial No. 390,162.

To all whom t may concern y Be it known that I, JOHN C. CALDWELL, a citizen of the" United States, and a resident of Miami, in the county of Dade and State of Florida, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Fishing Rods, of which the following is a specification. I 4

My invention isan improvement in {ishing rods, and has for its lohjectto provide a rod,'wherein the handle isA constructed so vthatV a portion thereof may loe reeiprocated to Figure 1, certain parts being removed for the sake of'clearness,

Figures 3 and 4 are sectionson the lines 3 3'k and 4-'4 respectively of Figure 2,l

Figure 5 is a side view of the yratchet wheel,

Figure 6 is a partial side view showing the housing latch,

Figure 7 isa detailed' section'taken on l line 7 7 of' Figure 1.

Infthe present embodiment of' the invention, ,the lishing rod' 1 is provided with'a hollow handle 2' whichV as shown, yhas threaded engagement with the rod, and at the end remote from the handle, a grip 3 is -provided,the said 'grip vloeing connected to a sleeve 4 rwhich is mounted to slide in the handle` 2, and it will be noticed that the grip has threadedl engagement with the sleeve. dle and is limited in' its sliding' movement Ywith respect to the handle hy means of a This rivet engages slots4 G. and '7111i i rivet 5. the handle 4and sleeve, respectively'.

A shaft is journaled transversely of the handle in front of the slot 6, and tliifsshait extends'throiigh slots 9 in the sleeve, and through a reel 10 which is arranged within an extension casing 11 on the handle. The reel as' shown is journaled at its` outer end in an inwardly `extend-.ing nipple 12k from the extension, and the shaft-is journaled in the reel, the reel moving freely with respect to the shaft;

ffvenienee in handling the lever.

.the teeth of the rack hars. yso arranged that when the vsleeve is moved The sleeve 4 is slidable in the hany A disk 13 is secured to the shaft at the inner end of the reel, and this disk is adapted lto engage. the Iadjacent face oit the adjacent reel end, to brake the movement of; the reel.

The reel is movable longitudinally on the `shaft vslightly sol that it may he moved to- 'ward or fromA the disk, and a lever 14 is pivoted in a slot in the extension, Jor engaging the reel to move the same. The adg'ace'nt faces of the reel and disk may loe provided with suraces havinga highco-eiiiycient of frietioniffl desired, in order that Atrietion may he exerted 1eetween the said surfaces to retardthe indve'ment oi the reel.

The lever l14 vat its inner end engages the end of the reel, and the outer end as shown is hooked to form a nger piece for con- 'lhe line winds upon the reel, and the reel is rotated to wind up the line, lay-moving the grip and sleeve with respect to thehandlje.

The arrangement is such that when the sliding sleeves are moved in either direction, the shaft -8 may he rotated but always in the same direction. The. rotating means consists of rack bars 15. rlhe said hars are arranged within the hand-les at opposite sides thereof, and the teeth ot the said hars thus face the, grip.` A wheel 16 'is arranged-fon the' shaft in the'handle, 'and to this wheel vthere is. secured a seriesof pawls 17.

Each of these pawls is pivoted to the wheel, and is normally pressed outwardly hy a. spring 18,130 causefthe pawl to engage The pawls are outwardly for instance, the teeth of the upper rack har hy their engagement with the pawlsfwill rotate the wheel 16 and the reel in a direction to wind up the line.

The teeth of the lower rack bar however, will slip idly over the pawl. lhen the sleeve is moved inward, the shaft will be rotated in the saine direction. hy the engagement of the teeth of the lower rack har with the pawls, while the teeth of the upper `rack loar will slip idly over the pawls.

By pressing the outer end of the lever 14 toward the handle,` the reel is moved outward -to free it from disk 1 3, and when so moved if there is traction of the line, it will unwind from the reel. rllhis lever 14'is used principally in fly castings. rllie reel is normally pressed toward the disk 13 by means 0f a Piate Spring 27, Whth is :@Qnnectd tO- handle within the extension casing 11, as

indicated at 20, and that end of the lever adjacent to the reel is bent laterally or curved to engage the line to lay the same on y the reel.

The free end of the lever is moved longitudinally of the reel by means of a rack bar 21. The outer end of this bar is pivoted to the lever 19 and the inner end engages a pinion 22 secured to a shaft 23 rotatably carried by a plate 22 supported within the sleeve 1.

A gear wheel 25 vis secured to the shaft, and this gear wheel meshes witha rack bar 26 on` the sleeve. lWhen the sleeve is moved longitudinally of the handle, the lever 19 willbe swung in opposite directions at its free end, and the line will be laid smoothly on the reel. The reel is normally pressed toward the disk 13 by the 'spring 27 before mentioned, which vis arranged on the outer face of the extension casing, and is held to the said face by a clip 28 arranged transversely of the spring.

That end of the spring adjacent to the reel bears against the end "of the reel, the journal pin of thereel being extended fromv the nipple 12 as shown, and the spring may be pressed outwardly at the said end by means of a rod 29 which is mounted to slide in guidesy 30 on the end of the extension casing, one end of the rod engaging the spring. The other end of the rod is engaged by a cam lever 31, the said lever being pivoted to the handle. When this lever 31 is swung in the proper direction, that end of the spring adjacent to the reel will be forced outward and the pressure tending to force the reel toward the friction disk will `be relaxed.

The opposite end o f the spring is engaged by a set screw 32 which is threaded through the wall of the extension casing, and by means of this set screw the tension of the spring maybe varied.

The operation of the device is as follows: `When it is desired to wind up the line, the sleeve is reciprocated by means of the grip. The reciprocation of the sleeve rotates the reel, andthe moven'ient of the sleeve which rotates the reel also operates the layer to lay the line smoothly on the reel.y The rack bar 26 extends further toward the body of the rod than do the rack bars 15, so that this rack bar is never out of engagement with the gear wheel. .When it is desired to let the line run freethe lever 31 is operated to move the spring 27 outward, thus releascated at 33. At the opposite end -latch j mechanism is provided for holding the eX- tension casing closed, said mechanism comprising a lever v34; which 1s pivoted to the bracket 35 on the end of the housing, and is n normally pressed into engagement with a catch 36 on the handle 2 by means of a spring 37.

'By pressing that end of the lever 34:y remote from the catch toward the `extension housing, the latch is released andthe said housing may be swung open. The nipple 12 slips over the end of the reel, and the element 29 is carried with the housing. Access is now given to the layer, to the reel, and to the set screw'32.

In practice the rod is held in the manner illustrated in Figure 1, that is, with the reel down or perpendicular. The reel is held with the lever 14 by pressure of the finger on the lever 14 while the fly is tossed behind. As the fly passes forward on the case, the reel is released by relieving pressure on the lever 111 and the momentum of the fly un- Winds the line. As the fly hits the water, the reel is again caught by pressure of the finger on the lever 14- which then acts as a brake to stop further unwinding of the reel.

If there is a strike, the reel is held in its free position with thelever 14C until the cam 31 can be thrown to permit the spring 27 to function. The reel and the layer are both housed in, andthe handle 2l has depending 'flanges indicated at 38 which fit down over the side edgesof the housing. lt will be uni derstood thatthe rack bars and 'ratchet wheelconstitute a power transmission mechanism, for continuously rotating the shaft in the same direction.

In order to permit the necessary movement of the rack bar 21, the handle 2 has an extension 40 at its upper side, into which the rack bar may move.

I claim: l 4 v 1. In a lishing rod, a handle, a reel arranged below the handle, ajgrip mounted lto reciprocate with respect to the handle, a connection between the grip and the reel for continuously rotating ythe reel in one direction, and a housing for the reel hinged at one end to the handle and having latch Inephanism for holding it closed' at the other en 2. Ashing rod comprising a handle, a

sleeve slidable therein, a reel associatedv with the sleeve, a line carrying arm pivoted to said handle and adapted for guiding the line onto the reel, a rack pivoted to' Sai arm for swinging the same, a pinion meshing said handle and adapted for guiding the line With said rack, and means operated by the onto the reel, a rack pivoted to said arm for movement of said sleeve to oseillate said swinging the same, a pinion meshing with l0 pinion. said rack, means operated by the movement 3. A fishing rod comprising a handle, a of said sleeve to oscillate said pinion, and a sleeve slidahle therein, a reel associated with housing enclosing said reel and said arm. the sleeve, a line carrying arm pivoted to JOHN CLAY CALDWELL. 

